One Door Closes, Another One Opens
Misfortune Leads Building Products Dealer to Find New Opportunities by Samantha Carpenter

Mike Stinnett was laid off in late 2011 from his job as
a manufacturer’s representative for Fort-Worth based NT Windows. But he
was not idle for long. He quickly told his wife Cindy, “Let’s do this.”
He took $3,000 out of his savings account and went down to the Lonoke
County Courthouse in Arkansas and applied for a DBA as Windows and More.
Not long after, “business started taking off, and I started selling and
doing what we said we were going to do.” Windows and More is a building
products dealer which provides homeowners within a 35-mile radius of its
showroom in Cabot, Ark., with remodeling products, including doors, windows,
roofing and other replacement products.

Crazy or Inventive?
While many might consider Stinnett’s decision to open his own company
just one month before Christmas to be crazy, it makes more sense when
you consider he has been in the building products industry for 37 years.
Stinnett has held positions with Diamond International, Payless Cashways,
Windows and Doors, Crown Millwork, Andersen Windows and Doors and Peachtree
Doors and Windows, to name a few.

“Early on in my career, after leaving Payless Cashways,
I had entertained the idea of purchasing an existing hardware/lumber store
in small town Kansas,” Stinnett explains. “I knew the ins and outs of
operating a successful home center type of operation, but the initial
investment of such an operation was a deterrent.”

This time around, Stinnett had more confidence about making
an investment. He could have chosen to look for another manufacturer’s
representative position with a different building products manufacturer,
but he asked himself, “Why travel? I understand the business. I know how
to run the business. I know how to do the jobs, and I know how to make
people happy.”

And apparently he has done a fine job doing that in his
new venture. Currently, Windows and More has grossed $500,000 in nine
months, and Stinnett estimates that the company will double its sales
in the second year of business. He’s doing it all along with his wife
and two salespeople and without having to finance the venture through
loans, etc.

Basing Business on Basic Principles
Stinnett says the basic premise behind the success of any building products
business is keeping the customers happy—and he had been training guys
on how to do that for years. Stinnett also believes that educating his
customers is what sets him apart from his competition.

“My sales process is very professional … I’m more of a teacher
than a salesperson because when we sit down, I want [customers] to be
able to understand why [they] are buying my product and what the process
is. And people appreciate that,” he says.

Stinnett says that most people get on the Internet and conduct
their own research. He says they know what questions they are supposed
to ask, but “they don’t totally understand why they are asking that question.
What I do is help them understand and how it is going to benefit them.”

Windows and More is not the only building products company
near or around Cabot, but Stinnett says he brings a different expertise
to the table.

“The Home Depots, I’ve worked at. The Ridouts (a wholesale
lumber company in Arkansas)—that’s where I started in the business. I
know the products that they have, and my product, quality-wise, is definitely
better than what they have to offer,” Stinnett says. “I truly think the
homeowner wants a better, more energy-efficient product that they don’t
have to spend an arm and a leg for. It’s very reasonable for them to make
that investment.”

Stinnett says people who are solely concerned with price
are “going to buy a Home Depot window. They are going to buy a Ridout
window.”

He believes when people decide on a dealer from which to
buy windows they want to like the person with whom they are conducting
business and they want a company they can trust.

“If there is one thing that I teach people [who work for
me] right off the bat: they [the homeowners] don’t buy from you because
you are good looking. They buy from you because they like you and they
trust you. That’s a fault of many sales guys. They walk in the home and
they start their sales pitch immediately with “buy, buy, buy, buy, buy.”
They get through with their sales pitch and say, ‘Let’s sign right here.’”

Stinnett says most people are not going to make a remodeling
decision immediately.

“I go in there and I build a rapport, find out what their
wants and needs are. If they want a cheap window, I can sell them a cheap
window, if they want an energy-efficient window, I show them the options
that they have available, but then give them the most energy-efficient
product for the lesser price,” he says.

But he admits that being patient is easier said than done
and that is one of the biggest challenges he faces.

“I am a very inpatient guy and always want things right
now,” he says. “There is a lot of work out there but many homeowners want
to research and want a well-thought out decision and I respect that. But
sometimes it’s hard.

“You certainly want the company to be successful quicker,”
he adds. “Certainly I would want to be in the million dollar bracket in
volume versus half a million … But we have been successful and I am happy
where we are at sales and profit wise. It’s been a fun ride.”

When asked how his company stays profitable Stinnett says,
“After I build value into it, I should be getting more money for my product.
I’m not building a business for myself. I’m building it for the family.
Hopefully one of these days after [I’m] gone, my family is going to have
the same business philosophy, mission statement and objectives.”

Stinnett has a son, Justin, who is interested in opening
a franchise in Kansas City, Mo., and Mike Stinnett says he will entertain
the idea in the future. Stinnett also has a stepson, Jason Hill, who is
also interested in learning the business, and Stinnett says he is thinking
of hiring him as part of the sales staff in the future.

Cleanliness is Key
Stinnett’s customers trust his work. Windows and More recently replaced
windows in Sheryl Whited’s home in Conway, Ark. She had windows replaced
on her home in Austin, Texas, two years ago, so she had a previous remodeling
experience with which to compare Windows and More. She says in Texas,
the same-size crew took four or five days to replace 11 windows, and it
only took Windows and More a day and a half to replace the same amount
with the same-size crew.

“He holds his crews accountable. His crew was the cleanest
crew of contractors. They didn’t leave anything on the ground. They were
so careful of the property,” she says.

Making sure that his crews keep a clean project area is
something in which Stinnett takes pride.

“Where I’m really a stickler, is the clean up of the job.
People do not like cigarette butts on the ground,” he says. “When I walk
the job with the homeowner to collect final payment, if I see a cigarette
butt, [the crew] gets minus $50 on the next job. That’s how strongly I
feel about leaving the homeowner’s possession [in just as good as or better
condition] than when we got there.”

More Than a Lifetime
Keeping project areas clean is not the only area in which Stinnett takes
prides. He also feels strongly about offering lifetime warranties to his
customers.

One reason his company sells Harry G. Barr windows and Royal
Building Products is because he says a dealer always wants to be able
to offer a homeowner a lifetime warranty. Stinnett takes that warranty
one step further.

“We actually give a warranty on the product that we sell
on the install,” he says.

Stinnett explains that when a product fails, most window
manufacturers send the homeowner the replacement part, and many homeowners
find themselves wondering how they are going to install that part.

“If they have a problem with that window, I want them to
call me—not the manufacturer,” Stinnett says. “Why? Because I’m going
to end up taking care of that window product for them—whatever part it
is.”

When asked why he knew offering a labor warranty was key
in as successful dealership, Stinnett says, “I’ve been to too many houses
which have had broken windows. Why was it still broken? Because they think
it is difficult to get taken care of. I’d much rather see the window fixed,
so that’s why I offer that as a service.”

His suppliers appreciate his approach to business, too.

Rick Coatney is a manufacturer’s representative for Harry
G. Barr Co., in Fort Smith, Ark., which makes WeatherBarr Windows. He
says, “Mike is a unique person in the replacement window business because
of his thoroughness and professionalism. I was [interested] in him [selling
our product] because of his knowledge of the product and the industry.
I wanted to latch on to Mike because when he does a job, he does his best.
He doesn’t cut corners because he has done both sides of the job now.”

Not bad for a company that started with $3,000 during a
housing slowdown.